Day 7: Vegas

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“Sometimes you will never know the value of a moment until it becomes a memory.” Dr. Suess

I'm finally off the west coast. Barely. I started the day by going to the beach in Santa Monica. I found street parking which was exponentially cheaper than the lots, I just had to drive a little farther north than the pier. I walked all the way out to the water and dipped my feet in, the weather was nice but the water was still frigid. I found a nice quiet spot next to the lifeguard stand and laid out my towel and laid down. After my first week on the road it was exactly what I needed.

I haven't mentioned this yet because I haven't done anything with it, but I brought my mom along with me. I've been holding on to her ashes for 4 years now and decided what's  better than taking her on my road trip with me and spreading her ashes around the country? One last trip with my mom. I bought a ceramic container with a sealed lid from target and put her ziplocked ashes in it and have been toting her around with me this whole time. Today was the first day I wanted to spread her ashes. My mom loved the sun, she soaked in it whenever she could, if the sun was out she was guaranteed to be in it. Being in LA was the first nice weather I saw, so as I sat there on the warm sand, I took the container out of my backpack, opened the ziploc and took out a small handful of her ashes and buried it in the sand. Now a little bit of her will always have a view of the ocean and a nice warm spot on the beach to sunbathe on.

After I was done at the beach I tried to find LA postcards, I went to 2 or 3 different places and couldn't find any anywhere. So if you wanted a postcard from LA, you're outta luck. It was wearing my patience so I decided to just leave for Vegas. The drive was pretty uneventful, got to Vegas in pretty good time. To be honest, it was pretty surreal being in Vegas again. The last time I was here was with my ex, I'll call her KT, for privacy sake. I think it's been almost 2 years since I've been here and we came to Vegas at least once a year if not more. We were even supposed to get married here. Vegas was one of my mom's favorite places too, so it's bittersweet.  

I did all the things you do in Vegas in about 4 hours, luckily I chose a cheap hotel within walking distance of all the places I would want to go. I gambled, I drank, I ate and I people watched. Boom, Vegas done. I have to get up at semi reasonable hour tomorrow to drive to the Grand Canyon, this is one of the things I've been looking forward to the most. I'm glad to have my mom along for one last trip. I think I got my love of travel from her. We never got to do a trip just her and I, so now is our chance.

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